


pillow fights and cuddle piles

by leias_left_hair_bun



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Republic Commando Series - Karen Traviss, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, oh and if you squint there's a dash of, so much fluff lately :D
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:55:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29296266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leias_left_hair_bun/pseuds/leias_left_hair_bun
Summary: the origins of the clone cuddle pile phenomenon, featuring baby nulls (:
Comments: 3
Kudos: 20





	pillow fights and cuddle piles

**Author's Note:**

> i know i just posted an a’den fic but uhhh yeah i have no self-control XD also, while “dancing without definite steps” was set in my kal fic universe where the nulls get to live with him for quite a while, this is set in a more canon compliant universe where they only got a few days. the nulls are older, here, too - closer to six (3 in clone years)

White light flashed across A’den’s eyelids again and he winced under his blanket, scrunching his eyes as tightly shut as they would go. Across the room, Ordo whimpered, and A’den peeked one eye open to see that his brother was curled in an unidentifiable lump under his own blanket, head and all. From the size of the lump, it looked like he was the only occupant of his cot. A’den sighed. That meant he had to wake Mereel up.

Grabbing the edges of his blanket, A’den tugged it off of his cot and around his shoulders before slipping to the floor, blanket falling around him in generous folds. He tiptoed past Prudii, always a light sleeper, and upon reaching Mereel’s cot, stuck one hand out of his makeshift cloak to shake his brother’s shoulder.

There was no response. A’den shook him again and, when that also failed to get a reaction, licked his palm sloppily and stuck it on the back of his brother’s neck. Mereel shot up, flailing his arms.

“Ssh!” A’den whispered hastily.

“You - you _chakaar_ ,” Mereel hissed. “Why’d you _do_ that?”

“That’s a bad word,” A’den said sternly. “Kal’buir told us not to say that word.”

“Well, _he_ says it all the time,” Mereel said. “He calls Sergeant Vau much worse things. One time, I heard him - “

“Ordo’s crying.”

“Oh.” Mereel looked over at the quivering, blanket-covered lump that was Ordo. “Lightning?”

As if in answer, another wave of light lit the room, followed by a muted crack of thunder outside their window. Ordo whimpered again and Mereel began untangling himself from his blanket.

“Okay, okay. I’m going.”

“Thanks,” A’den said, and he turned to shuffle back to his own cot, but their voices must have woken Prudii because he caught A’den’s arm as he passed him.

“Is there lightning?” he asked.

In answer, A’den nodded at Ordo’s cot where Mereel was now clambering into it, tugging the blanket off Ordo so he could rearrange it over the both of them.

“Oh.” Prudii sat up and rubbed his eyes. “I’m awake now.”

“Well, go back to sleep,” A’den said.

“Can’t.”

“ _I’m_ going to sleep,” A’den said.

“Don’t!” Prudii pulled at his arm again. “I don’t wanna be awake by myself.”

“But I wanna sleep,” A’den protested.

Across the room, Komr’k sat up and swung his legs out of his cot.

“You woke me up,” he announced loudly, and at that, Jaing sat up, too, throwing his blanket off and shrieking as the cold air hit him.

“It’s _cold_!” he yelled.

Komr’k threw his pillow at him; Jaing caught it and hugged it to his chest, grinning mischievously.

“Now I have _two_ pillows,” he said.

“That’s _mine_!” Komr’k said and lunged for it.

Prudii sighed wearily as the two boys started wrestling with each other and turned back to A’den. “They’re going to be noisy all night, now.”

It was a statement born from experience, as A’den was all too well aware. He frowned and tilted his head to the side, doing some rapid mental calculations. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Mereel’s messy cot and an idea struck him.

“Wait here,” he said to Prudii.

Securing his blanket around his shoulders, A’den went over to Mereel’s bunk and picked up his brother’s pillow, and upon reflection, tugged the blanket off for good measure. He piled both items in his arms and made his way over to where Jaing and Kom’rk were still bickering on Jaing’s cot, struggling to keep from tripping over the material dragging on the floor.

“Here,” he said, not bothered that neither of his brothers was paying attention to him. “You can use Mereel’s pillow, Kom’rk.”

He tossed the pillow on Kom’rk’s cot and turned to pile the extra blanket on top of Mereel and Ordo. Mereel kicked it off immediately and sat up.

“Hold on, did you just give Kom’rk my pillow?”

“Jaing stole his,” Prudii called.

“Then Jaing should give it back,” Ordo said, trying to look serious through the tears that had yet to dry on his face. “Jaing, give Kom’rk’s pillow back.”

Jaing and Kom’rk paused mid-tussle and looked over.

“No,” Jaing said, and at the same time, Mereel said, “I want my pillow!”

There was a pregnant pause. Prudii looked to Ordo, Kom’rk stuck his tongue out at Jaing, Mereel glared at A’den. It occurred to A’den that someone had better do something, quick, before a full-on fight broke out and brought the Kaminoans or Kal’buir down on their heads. And considering Ordo was distraught and Mereel distracted, he supposed he’d have to do it himself.

“How ‘bout if we put our pillows together?” he suggested.

It was an idea he’d had simmering for a while now, ever since Kal’buir had taken them away from the constant surveillance of the Kaminoans. He’d let them sleep on the floor for a few days, and after that, made sure Mereel had been allowed to start sleeping in Ordo’s cot during storms. It wasn’t just Ordo, either; Prudii, at least, almost never fell asleep without one of his brothers close by, and A’den understood that. He had scary dreams sometimes - they all did - and it wasn’t very fun to wake up all by himself in his cot.

“We could put our blankets together, too,” A’den added hopefully.

“No,” Jaing said again, but Prudii looked interested.

“Put them together?” he repeated.

“Like one big cot!” Kom’rk said, catching on. “Like we did with Kal’buir! Okay, let’s.”

Jaing pouted and hugged both pillows tighter. “But I don’t wanna.”

Wiping at his damp cheeks, Ordo crawled over Mereel to get out of his cot, planting his hands on his hips and staring Jaing down with a scowl. The other Null scowled back defiantly.

“Either you give Kom’rk back his pillow, or we all make a big cot on the floor together like A’den said,” Ordo said. “Got it?”

“You’re not my _buir_ ,” Jaing muttered mutinously, but he slid off of his cot anyways and started tugging his blanket out from under Kom’rk.

Clapping his hands, A’den skipped over to get his own pillow. This would be fun! It felt a little bit rebellious, too; no one had ever ordered them _not_ to sleep on the floor but it somehow didn’t seem like the thing the ever-disapproving Kaminoans would want them to do. A’den giggled at the thought and moved to help Prudii finish stripping his cot.

Apparently recovered from the lightning, Ordo took charge and began instructing the rest of the Nulls as to the arrangement of the pillows and blankets. As soon as everything was in place, A’den crawled into the middle of the pile and sprawled out.

“It’s nice,” he announced. “I can stretch my arms out real wide!”

“You can’t if I get in!” Mereel said and pounced onto the pillows, wiggling his way into A’den’s side.

A’den giggled again and tried to tickle his brother, who shrieked and wrapped his arms around himself himself protectively.

“We have to be still or we’ll move the pillows,” Ordo said, joining them, but he was grinning nonetheless.

Prudii plopped down next to A’den and curled into his back immediately; Kom’rk and Jaing apparently had decided to call a truce seeing as they settled in together, arms flung over each other. A’den rolled over and put his own arms around Prudii, who smiled peacefully and tucked his head into Aden’s neck.

The pile was as nice as A’den had imagined. He closed his eyes and let himself relax back into Mereel’s warmth, taking in the way Prudii’s curls brushed his chin every time he breathed in. He could hear Ordo’s breathing pattern already slowing; most likely he’d worn himself out crying and was already falling asleep pressed against Mereel’s side. Their breathing was all steadying, all falling into the same rhythm, and something about that was incredibly comforting.

“I love you, A’den,” Prudii whispered, and the rest of the Nulls took up the phrase in chorus.

“I love you, Mereel.” “I love you, Jaing.” “I love you, Ordo.” “I love you, Prudii.” “I _mostly_ love you, Kom’rk.”

The last, of course, was Jaing, who only got a sleepy “hmph” in response. After that, quiet fell again and A’den found himself quickly drifting off. His last thought was that there would be no scary dreams that night, not with his brothers next to him.


End file.
